10/21/26 AEW: Ilja Dragunov vs. Mike Bailey 16:05.
ML: They tried to do a serious proper physical match here building it up from the grappling and striking rather than just running and jumping at each other from the get-go like 98% of the AEW matches. It was mostly about the heavy blows, but they weren't mindlessly strong style exchanging. There was some struggle and intensity. It came off as being a lot less rehearsed and cooperative, and never felt one dimensional. Bailey would get a single flying move in here and there, but he had to create the opening and follow up with something more controlling. The striking was very high impact, and Dragunov would try to follow up with a big suplex. This felt like the old days when the guys at least put some effort into making it seem like something of a realistic, albeit there was a lot of thigh slapping. Because the match was starting from a place of seriousness, and they were working for things, when they sold it was a lot more believable than usual, which was aided by the fact they were trying to sell in a genuine manner, not just to mask stalling. This felt like something we haven't been seeing in AEW because Dragunov brings a more serious strike and suplex style that's more fight oriented, although give him a couple weeks and he'll probably be doing pants spots with Andrade. Obviously Dragunov was going to win since it was his AEW debut. This wasn't their 110% effort, but they didn't waste time, and other than lacking a little suspense, this was about as good as you could have hoped for. ***1/4

3/3/07 ROH, FIP World Heavyweight Title: Roderick Strong vs. PAC 18:09
ML: This was PAC's ROH debut, as they were touring the UK & needed some local attractions. Strong is 3 years older, but he was the much more established wrestler at the time, especially from ROH's perspective. PAC was a skinny young high flyer here relying on his athleticism, while Strong used his power. Strong was methodically taking PAC apart, with PAC making brief athletic comebacks. Strong gave a confident, controlling performance, telling the story where he was the confident favorite, while giving PAC plenty of opportunity to shine. The action was crisp and well executed. PAC did The black arrow to the floor, but Strong wasn't able to do a lot to break his fall. PAC hit a 450 splash, but then missed some kind of crazy move that started off as a shooting star press, but had a midair turn so he landed facing the turnbuckle, and Strong put him away. Strong was the better wrestler, but PAC's flying was very impressive, and you had to wonder why ROH didn't sign him full time on the spot. ***1/4

9/18/26 CMLL Eliminatorio De Parejas Increibles: Averno & Mistico vs. Barbaro Cavernario & Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Templario & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Star Jr. & Zandokan Jr. 13:33
Lucha de Apuesta Mask Vs. Hair: Mistico vs. Averno 17:58
ML: Everyone in this big tag is or was good, and they were all going more or less all out for the biggest CMLL match of the year, so this couldn't really fail. It was chaos, but Lucha Libre is the style where just taking turns leaping at one another can work, especially with guys like these who are respected and popular. My preference here would have been to keep the opening tag long and then do the singles match as more or less a lightning match, especially when everyone knew that singles match was going to be Mistico vs. Averno, who were among the oldest wresters in the match. For me, the first fall of Templario eliminating Dragon with a Ligerbomb at 5:20 came too soon. The action definitely slowed down after this first team was eliminated, which wasn't all bad because you get some extended one-on-one segments now. Averno pinning Star at 10:35 meant most of the "younger" guys were out of the match already though, leaving Guerrero 54, Averno 49, Mistico 43, & Templario 34. There wasn't much mystery that it was going to come down to Mistico and Averno, but this last portion being under 3 minutes seemed kind of anticlimactic. Mistico pinned Templario with a boomerang destroyer to set up the singles match. Averno was making this all about the mask from the get-go. He taunted the fans with a Mistico mask, then crotched Mistico on the ring post and ripped Mistico's mask around the left eye. This would have been far more compelling if Averno spent more time beating up Mistico then he spent screaming at the fans. I consider it a bad sign when the cameraman is repeatedly panning the arena. Despite Mistico being the best draw in Mexico, and Averno being his longtime nemesis, the fans were actually rooting for Averno. Mistico predictably did the Black Warrior taunt, but nothing was really working to get the crowd back on his side, even nearly being unable to continue after crashing and burning on a tornillo didn't garner much sympathy. One of my big issues with Mistico is this splat to the floor was the only thing he did that had impact beyond a feather. That was always the criticism of Jack Evans, but his flying was way more impressive than Mistico's is currently, and he was a better striker as well. Whatever Mistico lacked in quality, he made up for in quantity here, as he was just doing dive after dive all night. The match picked up considerably with Mistico's comeback, as he quickly threw in a couple more dives. I liked that Averno finally avoided about the 35th flying move Mistico tried in the match, but this crash landing from Mistico was too dangerous, and because he was legitimately shaken up, Averno had to kill even more time taunting the crowd after jackknifing Mistico into the barricade instead of going for the kill and taking the coveted mask. We get another pan of the sold-out arena, then Averno was whining because Mistico, of course, kicked out because he was given so much time. Mistico just kept surviving until he won with La Mistica. Afterwards, Averno pretended to be a good sport giving Mistico some of his hair, but wound up jumping him, and getting Mistico's mask, and Sky Teams as well. For me this is one 31 1/2 minute match, and because 8 guys were involved initially, it was mostly able to keep moving and avoid dragging like matches of that length normally do. It wound up being the best thing on the show over the more compact matches that involved wrestlers who are more towards their prime in 2026, not necessarily because it was ever great but because it was always good, and that kind of compounded over the course of half an hour (instead of being 20 minutes of air like most 30 minute matches these days). ***1/4

12/30/96 WCW, J-Crown Title & WCW World Cruiserweight Title: Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Thunder Liger 4:39
ML: For as great as these two were, their singles matches together wound up not living up to expectations more often than not somehow. They had excellent tag matches during the NJPW vs WAR program in 1992 and 1993, but their 1/4/93 Tokyo Dome was the infamous Dragon choke job where he kept slipping off the ropes. Their 2:38 8/2/96 J Crown 1st Round match was right before Liger had his brain operation, so they just did a sprint then Dragon had a great semifinal against Shinjiro Otani and an excellent final against The Great Sasuke. This match was considered by WCW to just be another of the 10 matches they were cramming into 2 hours of Monday NyQuil despite this being a marquee match in Japan or Mexico. Their subsequent 1/4/97 match was an excellent match that made up for the Tokyo Dome let down 4 years earlier, and their 12/13/95 J Cup match was the best match they had together despite both having already wrestled, and Liger having to save some energy to somehow pull off a reasonable final against the always underwhelming Gedo. There was no way for this WCW match to be satisfying to fans of these two wrestlers because it's so rushed it's ultimately more of a finishing sequence then a match. However, the wrestlers themselves still took it seriously, and gave all they had. This was a very effective sprint because they sprinted from start to finish, not disengaging after every move and then walking back over to each other eventually like the crap we see on TV today. The match flowed well, and the spots seemed a lot more reasonable than they should have given it's purely spectacle because they were pushing the pace and trying to incorporate them in as reasonable a manner as running and jumping at someone who could just move out of the way is going to get. I was into this match from start to finish, and it was very enjoyable for what it was. If you were watching it live and expecting the 15 to 25 minute match they deserve, then sure, it's incredibly disappointing, but knowing roughly what it was beforehand, it's generally better than it has the right to be. One of the great things about Liger is he could do a match that felt reasonably complete at virtually any length. His long matches didn't drag, and his short matches didn't feel like he wasn't taking it seriously because you can't have a match of the year in 5 minutes, so why bother trying. Ultimately, this was just giving Dragon a win in exchange for Liger winning their real match in Japan 5 days later, keeping the series between the two of them even at 2 a piece. It's not an essential match obviously, but at no point was I bored or wishing I was seeing something else. ***

8/28/26 ONE Kickboxing: Yuri Tanaka vs. Chongyang Zhao 3R
ML: Tanaka has the length and speed, particularly on his kicks, which are his strongest mode of attack. Zhao was the better boxer, especially when he could close the distance. Tanaka wasn't using much footwork, he either came straight in and pressured with his punches or stood flat-footed and tried to throw kicks. This kept Zhao in the match because as long as he could weather Tanaka storms of pressure, he would have plenty of time to control the distance himself and box on the inside. If Tanaka was more capable of controlling the distance so he could kick from the outside, this probably wouldn't have been competitive. Tanaka was cut outside his left eye in round 2 from a flying knee. Tanaka dropped Zhao with a left straight counter early in the 3rd. Tanaka went for the kill, and there was some wild chaotic exchanges. Zhao kept getting battered against the ropes, but managed to stay on his feet and keep firing. Zhao somehow made a last-ditch effort, and was completely emptying the tank in the center of the ring. The last round was excellent, and really made the fight. The second round was definitely the worst by far, but even that was entertaining enough. Tanaka won a unanimous decision. Good match.

9/4/06 ONE Muay Thai: Yanis Ben Alaya vs. Siwanat Mavinn Muaythai 3R
ML: Siwanat did a good job of walking Ben Alaya down. He'd throw the middle kick on the outside, step in behind punches, and then throw elbows at close range. Ben Alaya had good 1-2 combinations, but he needed to assert himself positionally to get them off most of the time, and he was often too content to be backed up. Siwanat won the first round because his footwork was better and he was much more determined to be the aggressor, but this was a competitive round. The more Ben Alaya just gave ground, the more effective Siwanat was at stepping in behind a big left hook and following up with the right hand. Round two was a big round for Siwanat, as Ben Alaya just wasn't doing much to get back on offense. Ben Alaya forced himself to come forward a lot more in round three. He would step forward and either throw the body punch or usually just fake the kick, but sometimes he let It go. Siwanat fought round three like he just needed to survive. I wanted Ben Alaya to let loose a little more, but the truth was that Siwanat was so overly cautious he biting on all his fakes to the point of sometimes jumping backwards, so Ben Alaya was going to miss badly and open himself up for a potential counter. What Ben Alaya needed to do was anticipate the big defensive movement and close distance quickly with a big secondary attack. Ben Alaya was making these kind of adjustments late in the round, but he just ran out of time. This was a Ben Alaya round, but too little too late. Siwanat won a unanimous decision. This match definitely seemed better the first time I watched it. Good match.

9/4/06 ONE Muay Thai: Sunday Boomdeksian vs. Kongpoxay LaoLaneXang 3R
ML: Neither fighter was using a lot of footwork, they were just standing toe to toe and trying to out technique each other. This fight had a lot of intensity, and was increasingly an inside scrap of a lot of knees and elbows. Both fighters were very durable, and showed no desire to slow down. Kongpoxay was the longer fighter, so he had the advantage on the outside, but Sunday just walked through those and kept soaking up all the space to ensure it was an inside fight. When Sunday got Kongpoxay on the ropes, he was relentless, with barages of body punches. He would just adjust to whatever Kongpoxay was leaving open, and keep pressuring massively. Kongpoxay cut Sunday with an elbow in the third. Kongpoxay had a good front kick, but without putting much effort into circling off the ropes and that sort of thing, he was too easy to smother. Sunday won a unanimous decision. Good match.

8/8/26 Marvelous: Sareee vs. Mio Momono 17:39.
ML: This is about as good as a 2020s match gets. It's got the modern fast pace and flashiness without sacrificing any of the feel of an aggressive life or death fight that's almost entirely absent in current jokey wrestling scene. There's great hostility here, to the point it totally felt like a grudge match even though not a lot has going on between these two, some nice tags, but this is their first marquee singles match (Sareee is 2-0-1 lifetime, but all sub 11 minute undercard matches). Mio channels her fire here better than I've ever seen her do it before because she has to match the seriousness of Sareee. This never feels like a meaningless exhibition, it always feels serious, and the fact that they are going nonstop from start to finish allows it to continue to gain steam throughout even though they aren't telling any specific stories. This isn't a match that's built around set pieces or big spots, it's a momentum match, keep going all out and the intensity and urgency are amplified naturally. They rely on their roles, Sareee is the bully favorite, and this is a role she plays better against Mio than Takumi Iroha, Chihiro Hashimoto, or Arisa Nakajima did. Sareee is less dominant, knowing that getting Mio over early without compromising herself allows Mio to be a more effective underdog because she's legimitately in this with a chance, instead of just reliant on surviving long enough to maybe luck into a flash pin or something. I don't think many people were betting on a Momono victory, but in terms of how the match is wrestled, she's an underdog you always feel can win, and they were able to swoop you up and keep you in moment so you weren't stepping back and doubting Momono while actually viewing the match. Sareee put Mio on the defensive right away with her aggressive strikes, forcing Momono to give a totally serious performance where she was using her athleticism to survive. Momono isn't just trying to avoid Sareee's style though, she stands up to her, defiant, and there's a whole FU attitude to the whole thing that is exciting. Sareee is likely to win most of these bruising segments, but Mio gets to hang with her at Sareee's game while still doing her own athletic offense that she has the advantage in. The style is ultimately more Sareee's, but the lightning pace and athletic nature is ultimately more Mio's.
Both go outside their biggest strengths to gain advantages as well as have a better match together. This is really the match I wanted Arisa Nakajima to do against Momono on 2/21/23, but she refused to really take Mio seriously, and just ran through her in a match that was good but even that much more disappointing for it's brevity because there was never an act where Mio fought her way into it, pushed, or came close. Momono was always fighting here. Thanks to Sareee, this is the stiffest and most serious version of her we've ever seen. There's no time to slow down or goof around, Mio does like 1 little celebration before getting up early, but that's essentially the extent of bs in the match. They took a few breaks that didn't feel like breaks, but like in a real fight, they had to keep pushing because the opponent would come right back at them if they gave them a free moment to recover. This was somewhat in the typical Sareee formula, but it's as fast a paced match as she's ever worked. The pace wasn't purely faster than the best Mei Seira high speed matches, but there's none of the start stop stuff that ruins all the other wrestling, and this is a very different style of speed because it's focused not on flashy sequences, but rather on an incredible level of violence and intensity. Sareee matching the pace and workrate to her stiff aggressive style only makes things that much more violent and impressive. Momono would throw some elbows even though this style put her at a drastic disadvantage simply because Sareee wasn't just going to stand there and let Mio jump at her all night. Momono fought much more aggressively than normal, immediately following up everything she did, even if often with another of the same. This was the stiffest match Momono has ever been involved in because she answered back in kind, and she was up to the task, throwing series of elbows and even headbutts because she wanted to win that badly. Sareee put Mio over early and often because this wasn't going to be a memorable match unless Mio was seen as a legimtimate opponent. Sareee was was extra violent when she had the advantage, but didn't need that to be the majority of the match. The struggle and urgency were strengths, as is typical of Sareee. The intensity kept increasing. They were banging each others heads into the ring apron, which seemed really violent even though it was obvious most of the sound and impact was coming from their hands hitting. Some of the other out of the ring stuff could fit into the tropes variety, but Mio doing the dive off the entrance tunnel, while more like STARDOM Io Shirai stuff, still actually felt serious, not just like they were showing off. Mio throwing Sareee out the door was cool. Momono did her flashy athletic spots, but here and there, with Sareee maybe getting caught with one but then avoiding the next. They were never just taking turns. There's no real exchanging here, but several savage series of brutal strikes where momentary advantages are gained. This was a match I actually believed in. I mean, it always feels like a fight, even though they are doing phony moves. The emotion and aggression felt legitimate. It was incredibly physical, with non-stop fighting. This had all the hallmarks of Sareee's best work, but still felt like she was pushing herself to the next level by doing things beneficial to Momono. Momono also really went outside her box to meet Sareee, while adding her own great exciting offense in reasonably plausible ways. The offense was performed with conviction. They do the things they do, but nothing seemed frivolous, and it never felt like they were just out there basing for one another. They really sold this with their desire, Mio getting deep on her pin attempts. This wasn't a deep match, it's basically just can you keep the advantage and build upon the damage already inflicted, but that's fighting. Keep fighting until the opponent can't. Sareee ultimately won as expected, but the loss didn't hurt Mio, and the match didn't overstay it's welcome. Sareee is the best female of this decade without anyone else even being in the conversation, and she's actually delivering her best matches in 2026 even though we're now into her 4th year of saving joshi after spending 2 years doing absolutely nothing in the Orlando warehouse. ****1/2

10/6/26 AEW Clockwork Carnage Qualifying: Mike Bailey vs. Lee Moriarty 8:56
ML: Moriarty isn't a great wrestler, but he's a rare one these days who tries to brings out the good aspects of his opponents style by making them work. He asks them to counter and build sequences rather than turning his back to the opponent anytime he does something to make sure no one can take the match remotely seriously. This should have been a really interesting match, but for one thing, it was just too rushed. There's flashes of nice interplay to be found, but it's mostly just a showcase for Bailey, and Moriarty doesn't have a lot to add to Bailey's spectacular stuff (which mostly just works on it's own). This is better than the typical Bailey AEW match (which is way worse than the typical Bailey any other promotion match) because his opponent actually does something beyond crowd gazing, but it's definitely nowhere near the match they could have if Bailey challenged for the ROH Pure Title. That's the match I'd like to see, Bailey working his style into a match that challenged him to keep chain grappling, or at least escaping Moriarty's clutches to kick and fly. This was more like, Bailey did his thing, but there was a moment here and there where they thought about doing something a bit more evolved. There was a nice sequence of flash pins before the finish, but Moriarty never really established himself or his style, so it was poor utilization of one of the few guys in AEW that offers a different style even though he was against a talent worker who is more than capable of adapting, and had traditionally been more than a highlight reel when given the time do a full match. This was interesting enough, but to really have worked, Moriarty would have had to set the ground rules so to speak with his technical wrestling, and Bailey would have had to break that down and found openings for his flying. Here, Bailey already did whatever he wanted at the outset, so there was nowhere for the body of the match to actually go. **3/4

NJPW 5/18/18 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, BOSJ XXV Block A: Will Ospreay vs. Taiji Ishimori 13:47
DC: This was the first time these two wrestlers were in the ring together. It’s fitting that Will Ospreay is called Will, because he showed a tremendous will to win from the very start of the match. Taiji Ishimori had made his return to NJPW and was a heel at this point. This meant the match relied a lot on Ospreay’s ability to make this match memorable. Of course, Ishimori was still quite useful regardless of the heel gimmick. Ospreay did a good job of selling for Ishimori’s offense. And Ospreay did this while keeping in mind that Ishimori was somewhat hampered by having to play a Bullet Club heel. All in all, this was an interesting match, because, even though they didn’t do the non-stop flying I had perhaps hoped for, they turned it into a surprisingly unpredictable match. While the wrestling was at times slightly overdeliberate, this was compensated for by the solid storytelling. Very good match. ***¾   

NJPW 1/21/19 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Volador Jr. vs. Caristico 17:55
DC: This was a fascinating match-up between two of the best Mexican luchadores of the past 25 years or so. Caristico was the original Mistico (a.k.a. Myzteziz). Mistico’s execution was superb in this match. And while it was certainly worthwhile seeing these two lucha legends face each other, it felt like there was something missing. While certainly excellent here, Volador Jr. wasn’t quite as immersed and alert as we usually know him to be, but perhaps that’s because he had lost a hair match in Mexico just a few months prior. His athleticism was awesome, but what seemed to happen is that Volador wasn’t quite comfortable in his role as the reactionary performer, as he’s usually the one carrying matches. In this match, it was Mistcio who was the one who smoothly controlled the pace and suspense of the match. Volador won the match, but he showed a lot of respect for his opponent, maybe even a bit too much. Very good match. ***½

NJPW/ROH 4/6/19 NYC MSG, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Taiji Ishimori vs. Dragon Lee vs. Bandido 8:54
DC: This was just one amazing moment after another. What prevented this from being excellent was that it was a match under ten minutes that at times was just a little bit too showy to the point that it was almost absurd. The action and athleticism was a lot of fun to watch, though. Very good match. ***¾

NJPW 10/28/19 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Super Junior Tag League: Volador Jr. & Titan vs. SHO & YOH 16:25
DC: Titan and YOH were the workers of the match, because they were most interested in turning this match into more than just another good junior heavyweight tag team match. SHO did a really good job of working together with his tag team partner, though. Volador Jr. is one of the best Mexican luchadores of the contemporary era, but he couldn’t quite put his stamp on this match. That being said, Volador certainly showed enough well-executed flips to ensure he was absolutely a very useful participant in this match. SHO & YOH were the aggressors in this match, as they really were in desperate need to score a win in this tournament, and they did a really good job to show that desperation. Volador & Titan provided enough resistance to show that they weren’t planning on losing this bout. Volador hit a tremendous tope suicida. Titan almost pinned YOH, but YOH kept hanging in there and was determined to win, which he eventually did via a German suplex pinfall over Titan. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 2/18/24 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Soberano Jr. vs. Templario 18:40
DC: This was from one of those CMLL Fantastica Mania shows presented by NJPW. This match was a wonderful display of contemporary Mexican lucha libre. Since both these workers are very gifted athletically and are very capable in the high flying department, this match was practically a duel in which the weapon of choice was a series of daredevil acts. While the moves themselves looked really cool thanks to their tremendous physical ability, the true excellence came from how they applied all of that in the context of working a memorable match. The timing, selling and teasing of the action is crucially important, and that’s something these two understand very well. Perhaps the only thing that prevented this from being great was that it was almost a little bit too much like a friendly contest, which kind of made sense, since there was really nothing officially at stake here, as this wasn’t a title match nor a tournament match. Still, this was a very enjoyable contest. Excellent match. ****¼   

NJPW 6/1/25 Tokyo Ota City General Gymnasium, BOSJ XXXII Final: YOH vs. Kosei Fujita 28:05
DC: While the majority of the pro wrestling fans were praising others, Kosei Fujita was my pick for 2021 rookie of the year. So when I recently started checking out some recent NJPW again (in July 2026), I was very pleased to see that Fujita had improved so much ever since showing a lot of promise back in 2021 (even more than I had expected). And here we see Fujita in the final of the prestigious Best Of The Super Juniors tournament. YOH had initially impressed people as a tag team wrestler (along with tag team partner SHO), but ever since Roppongi 3K had broken up (which ironically happened around the time Fujita made his debut), YOH had continued being YOH (while SHO changed his style and turned into a member of the villanous House Of Torture sub-stable of Bullet Club). This BOSJ 32 Final was wrestled at a cautious pace, as YOH showed confidence and experience. In the meantime, Fujita showed courage and some more patience, as he realized that he’s got what it takes to make it. The story was a well-told one of Fujita overwhelming YOH progressively as the match went on. While YOH was a more established name in NJPW, Fujita showed that he wasn’t going to let them stop him from giving the best performance possible, one that would benefit the match overall and would benefit how people would view his work. Both men were never selfish and seemed genuinely interested in trying to make this as good as possible. This aspect was truly admirable, especially considering that this tournament final was a match-up that was nothing like the star-studded finals of the 1988-2007 editions of the Super Juniors (at least on paper). The crowd was really into this match, and even Zack Sabre Jr. (who was at ringside) was visibly into this bout. Since this was a major NJPW match, of course this had to go over 25 minutes, which was probably slightly too long. However, the way the pacing was conducted made the length not a detracting factor. Also, the storytelling was done in a surprisingly good way, as they managed to do what they “had to” do (based on the big-match template expected nowadays) yet also try to make it their own thing to make this an actual memorable final. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the match was that the selling displayed during the finishing stretch (which was exactly the right amount of selling, not too much and not too little) prevented it from feeling like overkill. All in all, it was quite an impressive match, as YOH proved that he is perhaps an underrated singles wrestler, and Fujita proved that he is one of the most promising young wrestlers in the business today. Interestingly enough, Fujita won the match and tournament, which was refreshing, as NJPW has had the reputation of being reluctant when it comes to pushing young talent. On this night, however, 22-year old Fujita did indeed become the youngest-ever BOSJ winner. Very good match. ***¾

NJPW 2/27/26 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, CMLL World Light Heavyweight Title: Mistico vs. Soberano Jr. 25:40
DC: Soberano Jr. apparently has a different style mask these days. He acted like a cocky rudo during his ring entrance. He had Templario in his corner, and Mistico had Tiger Mask IV in his corner for this big title bout. By the way, this is the original Mistico, the one who also wrestled as Myzteziz and Caristico at some point in his career. This is the type of match-up that makes these CMLL Fantastica Mania shows presented by NJPW so unique and interesting. For someone in his mid 40s, Mistico is definitely still very capable and very relevant as a top-level luchador. The lucha displayed here was executed so gracefully, which made it truly a joy to watch. Mistico’s experience and proficiency were key factors in this match working so well. Soberano’s work stood out through his ability to anticipate and reply promptly. There were so many cool spots that I’m really not going to list them all, as you should truly just watch this match. But one example is Mistico doing a dive off the fan entrance in the crowd onto Soberano. The high flying lucha artillery used was of high quality from both sides. The timing and selling, always crucial in these matches that feature so much amazing athleticism, were right on the money. This is what sets apart the contenders from the pretenders, and this bout is definitely in contention for being one of my favorite matches of the year. Great match. ****½

NJPW 5/29/26 Niigata, BOSJ XXXIII Block A: Valiente Jr. vs. Kosei Fujita 11:01
DC: This was deservingly the main event of this show. The story of Kosei Fujita’s BOSJ 33 was that he had collected less points than expected, based on the fact that he was the previous year’s winner. Fujita’s nickname was “The Japanese Young Buck,” which is a great nickname for him. Valiente Jr. is an underrated Mexican luchador. Both workers roughly were of the same age (mid 20s) and roughly had the same amount of pro wrestling experience (approximately five years) at the time of this match. What’s perhaps most impressive about Fujita’s work is how much confidence and calmness he shows, as he seems perfectly equipped with the knowledge and ability of how to put his stamp on the match in an unselfish yet uplifting manner. Valiente Jr. may not be the most famous Mexican luchador of recent times, but what an excellent choice he was to be a participant in this tournament, as he fit in very well. Both participants in this match understood that what they were going for was a combination of different aspects of contemporary pro wrestling, some matwork, plenty of stand-up and launching attacks, and of course, high flying (but only when appropriate). This diverse list of healthy ingredients made for a match that lived up to expectations. The way they shifted between these stylistic changes within the match was done in a very organic and natural way, which enhanced the idea that they were trying to give a strong performance with the goal to win, while not being afraid to try to impress people with talent and skill. The match was of the right length for what this was, a match in the middle of the tournament that helped Fujita re-establish himself as one of the favorites to win the tournament. Very good match. ***½

NJPW 6/7/26 Tokyo Ota City General Gymnasium, BOSJ XXXIII Final: YOH vs. Kosei Fujita 28:01
DC: Interestingly enough, this was the very first time that the participants of the BOSJ Final were both the same ones as the year prior. That means we got a rematch of the surprisingly good BOSJ 32 Final. No complaints here. What a great opportunity for both these guys to prove themselves. YOH had the chance to show that he is indeed one of the more overlooked workers of the past 10 years or so, and “Japanese Young Buck” Kosei Fujita had the chance to show that he was indeed one of the most promising young workers in contemporary pro wrestling. The crowd was really into this from the start, perhaps remembering how good last year’s (6/1/25) final was, and perhaps because these two had managed to maintain relevance over the course of the past year. The match took place in the very same arena as the previous year’s final, and it was of very similar length (roughly 28 minutes). Ultimately, the underlying story was the same as last year, as YOH had over 10 years more pro wrestling experience as Fujita had, and YOH was over 12 years older than Fujita was (as YOH was born a day after Owen Hart lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title to Shiro Koshinaka in 1988). What was different this time, compared to the 2025 final, was that YOH seemed more immersed in his role as YOH (as opposed to being a singles-match version of the former Roppongi 3K tag team he was a part of with SHO), and Fujita showed more intensity and attitude. Fujita was no longer concerned about being the sympathetic babyface as much as he was the previous year, as he was now an established star after winning the prestigious BOSJ tournament in 2025. Fujita had also shown that he was a consistent performer who could uplift opponents, matches and shows. This was a very competitive match, as YOH was indeed not interested in being a washed-up shell of his former self, and he was really into what he was doing and enjoying the fact that he was still such a relevant performer in 2026 (arguably unexpectedly so). This 2026 match had a bit more of a higher intensity level than the 2025 one. The pacing was roughly the same, but it feels that the moves were all given more meaning and impact (perhaps thanks to the fact that they knew they could deliver a memorable final together). The fact that they took their time and focused a lot on storytelling was realistic because of the fact that last year’s final went over 25 minutes. This didn’t stop them from adding the necessary flashes of urgency whenever the opportunity arose. These two really understand how to wrestle a very memorable contemporary pro wrestling match. There were plenty of interesting moments of struggle, blocking, countering and taking advantage of opportunities. The match never felt overly long, and the match always felt interesting and fascinating. Combined with their display of focus and eagerness to succeed, the fact that they knew they could pull off a memorable match resulted in the confidence to produce something that managed to exceed what they did last year. While it would have been nice to see Fujita win (since he’s pretty much the present and future of men’s puroresu), it would not have been a good thing for him, as that would eliminate several opportunities for him to play the role of someone who was fighting for success (especially since he’s still only in his mid 20s, which is very young for a top worker these days). Plus, the fact that YOH won this match makes him deservingly an established veteran who can still hang in there with younger talent. And YOH’s win never undermined Fujita’s progress in any way, as it was the rematch of a memorable final, and it was a result that didn’t come easily. It will be interesting to see what role YOH will continue to play in NJPW, and it will be interesting to see how Fujita will recover from this high-profile loss. Excellent match. ****

6/21/93 WWF, 10.000 Dollar Challenge: Razor Ramon vs. The 1-2-3 Kid 5:15
ML: The Kid shocked Razor with a 2:12 upset in their first match on 5/17/93, Kid's 5th match with the WWF. Getting lucky against an opponent who was dramatically underestimating him was one thing, doing it again was another. Razor had been trying for a rematch for the last month, and finally bribed Kid with 10k. He was determined to get his money's worth, or as Bobby Heenan said, "He's gonna get $50,000 worth out of his hide." Kid played it well, he was afraid, but a willingness to crash and burn is in his nature. This was a smartly worked sprint that was really good while it lasted, but had a cheesy ending to continue this as a feud. Kid got a couple athletic moves in at the outset, then Razor caught him in the fallaway slam and began to extract his revenge. Razor was using big power moves to punish him, and it seemed like he could beat this young punk any time he wanted to, but Kid finally back body dropped his way out of the Razor's edge on the concrete. Unfortunately, he legit slipped off the top and went crashing to the floor trying a tope con giro, which was to be the key to his comeback and the highlight of the match. They then improvised their way to a still woozy Kid hitting the moonsault attack that he won their first match with. This time Razor kicked out, so since Kid didn't have to win to get Razor's money, he just grabbed the bag and ran off like a thief in the night. Razor chased him to the parking lot, but Kid actually had a getaway car ready, and was driven off. I guess with 10k, you can afford a driver. As lousy endings go, at least this was funny. Razor once again lost the battle. Even though he kicked out this time, he was further humiliated. Underdog Kid was really over, and this match cemented him as an actual player in the company rather than another one of Vince's fleeting jokes. **3/4

9/30/26 AEW: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet 16:14
ML: PAC was an inspiration for these two, not just as one of the great high flyers who came up before them, but as Ospreay's countryman who gave him hope he could also make it in Japan and America, and Ricochet's big brother roommate in Dragon Gate. I still don't like Ospreay & Ricochet hugging before going out and beating each other up, but their sort of aerial exhibition has little to do with animosity anyway. They flashed back to the gymnastics oriented match they were doing together a decade ago, rather than doing what they usually do today, with Ospreay doing his not so greatest hits on autopilot and Ricochet largely stalling. Their AEW matches are definitely the older slower version of what was once top tier aerial warfare, but they were trying hard today for PAC. They weren't breaking any new ground, but it's been almost 2 years since they wrestled, so it was fun seeing them do it again. Ospreay works a lot better against Ricochet than almost anyone in AEW, as he still bothers to develop the sequences and include a lot more answers; he's not just having the opponent counter the Oscutter with whatever is relevant and doing his standard paint by numbers stuff. Ricochet was the more impressive of the two here. He had the better flying, the better gymnastics, and he didn't have the uncharacteristic moments of sloppingness Ospreay did here. Excalibur claimed Ricochet did a shooting star Pele kick, which I don't think is even physically possible. Really, it was a knee instead of the traditional body press a shooting star ends in. Ospreay knocked Ricochet out with a typically shabby hidden blade then hesitated looking at the corner, eventually getting the confidence to try PAC's black arrow for the win. That was the perfect way to end the match. Although it was great to see Brian Danielson again, the opposition was terrible and the match was otherwise completely forgetable. They should have had Ospreay vs. Ricochet be a title match and put it on last, as it was the best representation of the PAC people loved throughout his career (rather than the guy Tony was wasting the last couple years as just another one of the plumber's lackeys), and went to the final PAC tribute video from all the post match hugging. ***

10/27/90 WCW, NWA United States Tag Title: Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner vs. Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags 15:24
ML: This was something of an ECW match before ECW existed, a combination of brawling and spectacular high spots. The difference here is they still bothered to follow the rules, which limited them somewhat because this wasn't a no rules match, but also made it feel more like a serious grudge match than simply guys clowning around with weapons. Sometimes it almost felt like the match in reverse order, but getting the crowd into it right from the outset after the series of underwhelming matches that preceeded this allowed them to get away with filler later on when they had to stick to actually fighting inside the ring for the most part. The Nasty Boys were never a team I was particularly impressed by, this is probably their best match, and even then it's mostly interesting for Scott, but they had a better work ethic in these days and were a lot more believable as rowdies before WWF sanitized them and turned them into cartoonish smelly guys. In these days, they sometimes made me believe in their brawling style, which is why their gimmick worked initially but then seemed so jokey later on. The Nasty Boys were okay when they were roughing up the opponent, but they would just hold with a bear hug or Boston crab. At least they were working Scott's back rather than being totally random, but I would rather they stayed aggressive and just put the boots to him or whatever. Their lengthy heat segment was the weakest part of the match by far, but overall, they were able to mix enough moves into the brawling style to keep things from stagnating too much until the Steiners made their next comeback. Of course, Steiner brothers provided a lot of exciting offense, big suplexes from Scott, but not as many impressive double teams as usual, mainly a doomsday bulldog stood out. Jim Ross did a great job here of making the match and action seem important, keeping the audience locked in. This still came across as an athletic contest because of the way it was presented by both JR calling it like a sporting event and the wrestlers abiding by the rules even though their desire was to do something a little different. Once the match got going, there wasn't a lot of brawling because the ref was actually allowed to do his job for the most part. Eventually, Rick broke up a pin with a chair when the refs back was turned, surprisingly busting open Sags at a point when WCW had largely moved away from the bloody matches of the NWA. Scott pinmed Knobbs with his Frankensteiner, but both Steiners got hit with the tag belt afterwards, and the Nasty Boys injured Rick by ramming his shoulder into the ring post twice. Scott thus did the post match interview with Phantom of the Opera Tony Schiavone on his own, but was attacked by a popcorn vendor who turned out to be Sags with a fake beard. This post match added to the match, but that's not only because it suited the Nasty Boys character, but also because they didn't have a post match attack in every other match like Tony Khan insists on doing, so it actually felt like we saw something. This was intended to be the beginning of an ongoing feud that based on this match had a surprising amount of potential, but WCW never bothered to lock the Nasty Boys up with a binding contract, so WWF swooped in and stole them by December. This started off really exciting, but it needed more juice in the middle or a shorter run time, as the heat segment was too long and basic, and they'd already used to much of what they had to offer early, so the climax didn't fully make up for that. ***1/4